Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 23 The New Courtyard

After reaching level 5, more buildings can be constructed, such as the Clothing Workshop, the Cured Meat Rack, and the Weapon Forging Room... There is also a building that Zhang Chengdao finds particularly troublesome: the Stone Mine.

In the game, the Stone Mine is fixed in the default location. Only one can be built, and unlike other buildings, it cannot be stored in your inventory. If you no longer want it, there is no other way but to destroy it, and destroying it will cut off your stone source—it is the only building in the game that consistently produces stone resources.

But reality is not a game. The stones in Baishi Mountain are so numerous that they can't be mined out, so how can they be expected to produce stones from it?

The real problem is that when upgrading to level 6, you must build a [Stone Mine Cave].

In games, there are fixed resource points to build, but there aren't any in real life!
Without resource points, where would he build a stone quarry?

Stuck here, Zhang Chengdao had no choice but to put the upgrade of his cheat system aside for the time being and start looking at other functions instead.

The recipes also showed significant differences after the upgrade.

Several new recipes have been added to the food that can be made: [Rice], [Meat Buns], [Bamboo Shoots, Mushrooms, and Cured Meat], and [Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Meat].

The first two are acceptable, as they are simply made from rice, flour, and meat. However, the dishes "Bamboo Shoots with Mushrooms and Cured Meat" and "Stir-fried Bamboo Shoots with Meat" are outrageous.

Where is he supposed to find bamboo shoots in the dead of winter?

In the game, bamboo can produce a batch of shoots every few days, but in reality, no matter how fast bamboo grows, it's impossible!

Zhang Chengdao originally wanted to give up, but when he thought of the wheat in the two plots of farmland behind the house, a thought suddenly struck him.

What if... the seedlings and seeds in the mall were sentient beings?

Since the game is set in a world of cultivation, maybe everything in it has a spirit?
Thinking of this, Zhang Chengdao glanced at the balance of 360 Peach Blossom Stone, gritted his teeth, and bought several kinds of seedlings in one go.

In addition to bamboo seedlings, there are also kudzu seedlings, ramie seedlings, and peach seedlings.

With the newly created [Equipment Workshop], clothing production could now begin. Initially, the materials for clothing were kudzu cloth, hemp cloth, and kudzu silk, all produced by kudzu vines and ramie. Therefore, Zhang Chengdao bought some of each type of kudzu vine and ramie seedling. In addition, he bought eight licorice seedlings—essential for making medicine—costing 160 peach blossom stones. He also added two bamboo seedlings and two peach tree seedlings.

Saplings are more expensive than vines and herbaceous plants. Four saplings cost 160 peach blossom stones. Zhang Chengdao had painstakingly saved up peach blossom stones for four days, but in one go, he only had 40 left, which made him feel heartbroken.

After buying the seedlings, Zhang Chengdao specially made more bamboo fences to expand the entire yard. He also built a plot of farmland behind the house and planted wheat. He also demolished the thatched shed so that it wouldn't be useless and take up space.

Two peach saplings were planted at the entrance, two bamboo saplings were planted in the innermost corner of the yard, and the remaining kudzu vines, ramie saplings, and licorice saplings were planted all in a small garden enclosed by a wooden fence in the open space at the entrance of the yard.

After doing all that, the courtyard looked much neater. Just as he stepped into the courtyard with satisfaction, he found his cheap apprentice and his friend Xu Ying sitting around the campfire talking. A processed deer was placed on the fire, and next to it was a bamboo frame with a clean deer hide on it.

When the two saw Zhang Chengdao return, they both stood up and greeted him respectfully.

Chang Ping'an boasted, "Master, Master, Brother Xu hunted a deer and brought it back. I tanned the hide with wood ash. Look, it's right there!"

"Great!"

Zhang Chengdao sincerely praised him. He had been here for four days and hadn't seen a deer, let alone a pheasant. Yet the natives had hunted a deer with ease. Their survival skills were indeed impressive.

Xu Ying blushed and awkwardly cupped his hands in apology, saying, "Immortal Zhang is too kind. It's just a pity that the venison is a bit tough; I don't know if it will meet your standards." Xu Ying was genuinely embarrassed. Just now, while the two of them were roasting the venison, he had watched helplessly as the bamboo fence inexplicably moved outwards, then several buildings appeared in the yard, and finally, a few trees and a flowerbed suddenly appeared...

These all appeared out of nowhere, without any warning!

Even though Xu Ying already knew that Zhang Xianren was a deity, he was still stunned by these methods and felt extremely awe and respect.

This immortal actually praised him for hunting a deer, which immediately reminded him of the shameful experience of being praised to the heavens by his grandfather when he was a child for simply copying a poem.

"We'll eat the same thing, and I haven't tried venison yet anyway,"

Zhang Chengdao didn't stand on ceremony at all, and plopped down next to the campfire. Then he took out two bowls of lean meat soup from his backpack and gave one to Chang Ping'an and one to Xu Ying.

The whole deer was cut open and placed on the campfire, where it sizzled and dripped with oil.

Zhang Chengdao took a small knife from the workbench, cut off a piece of the slightly charred outer part of the venison, and examined it by sticking it into the knife.

It's very lean, with not too coarse fibers, more like beef, and not much sinew. It smells a little fishy, ​​but it's still acceptable. What hits your nose more is the aroma of roasted meat protein.

I put it in my mouth and chewed it. It tasted like ordinary meat. It wasn't as delicious as I had imagined, nor was it as bad as I had imagined.

Seeing this, Chang Ping'an and Xu Ying exchanged a glance, then one drew a three-foot-long sword and the other drew a broadsword as wide as a head, and carefully cut the outermost layer of roasted venison from the left and right.

It's... kind of mesmerizing.

Especially Chang Ping'an, his sword was almost bigger than the whole deer!

Zhang Chengdao watched their actions, hesitated, opened his mouth but said nothing.

The sword your master gave you, you're just using it to cut venison?

Xu Ying's longsword was fine; the venison he cut off was relatively normal. But Chang Ping'an's broadsword was thick and heavy, making it impossible to use. After struggling for a long time, he only managed to "chop off" a few undercooked pieces, leaving him sweating profusely with anxiety.

Zhang Chengdao couldn't stand it any longer after watching for a while, and finally said, "Ping An, go look on that table over there, there should still be a knife there."

Chang Ping'an suddenly realized what was happening, quickly put the sword on the ground, and turned to run to find the knife.

Xu Ying quickly placed the cut venison in a bamboo tube and presented it to Zhang Chengdao, saying, "I haven't thanked Immortal Zhang for taking me in yet. This is just a small token of my appreciation, and I really don't know how to repay you."

“No need, I don’t care about these things here,” Zhang Chengdao waved his hand and said, “It doesn’t take much effort anyway. If you’re willing, you can help me cut bamboo and wood when you’re free and pile them up outside the yard. I’ll need them.”

It's best to cut down more trees so you don't have to go through the trouble of gathering them yourself.

……

On the first day of testing the waters, I've finally made it back onto the new book charts! Starting today, I'll be updating three times a day!!! Throw me a wow!!!

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(End of this chapter)